These Vagina Glitter Capsules Promise to Give You a 'Sparkly, Flavored Orgasm.' Here's What a Gynecologist Thinks

Have you ever found yourself suddenly thinking in the throes of passion, You know what’s missing here? A ton of glitter around my vagina.

Okay, we haven't either. But that hasn't stopped one retailer from marketing a product designed to transform your lady parts into a colorful sparkling wonderland.

The company, Pretty Woman, is selling what they call Passion Dust Intimacy Capsules, one of which is supposed to be inserted in the vagina an hour before you get busy. Your “body's physical responses help to release the Passion Dust," the company explains, and the capsule dissolves, “creating a sparkly, flavored orgasm."

Whoa, what? When we heard about this new take on below-the-belt body art, we had to investigate.

The ingredient list sounds a little scary. Pretty Woman claims the capsules are made from gelatin, starch-based edible glitter, acacia (gum arabic) powder, Zea Mays starch, and vegetable stearate. Yet on their website they reassure consumers that the product is safe. The only potential danger is a glitter-induced asthma attack during oral sex. (Um, only?)

They also specifically shoot down the idea that glitter capsules could cause vaginal infections. "If you’ve ever had vaginal issues, you had them before you used Passion Dust anyway," the website states, specifically calling out yeast infections as not something you could blame on a bedroom glitterbomb session.

If none of these are strong enough reasons compelling you to keep these capsules far from your nether regions, San Francisco–based ob-gyn Jen Gunter, MD, has a few warnings to share.

For starters, while the website claims the glitter is cosmetic-grade and you can find more “more harmful glitters” in your lip gloss, Dr. Gunter says this is faulty logic. “The idea that just because you can eat something, it’s safe for your vagina, just isn’t correct,” she tells Health. “I can eat a piece of fried chicken, but it doesn’t mean I should put it in my vagina.”

Dr. Gunter also points out that the capsules are a big question mark in terms of how they are manufactured. "You don’t know what the concentration of the product is, you don’t know what the pH is, you don’t even know if it contains what it says it contains,” she says.

For their part, the Pretty Woman states this: "We did not say that the glitter was FDA approved we said that the 'ingredients used' are FDA approved."

In a recent blog post, Dr. Gunter states that if the capsules or glitter particles are made of plastic, that could fast-track an infection. “I’ve seen nasty inflammatory vaginal discharge result from contact with sand, so this could be a similar,” Dr. Gunter writes. She also states that the particles could lead to vaginal granulomas (growths of tissue in response to an infection).

And if sugar is an ingredient (Pretty Woman says the glitter is "candy flavored"), that’s not great news either. “Depositing sugar in the vagina lets bad bacteria go wild,” she writes, which could trigger an infection.

Bottom line: by using these glitter capsules, you're putting a completely unknown product in your vagina. “Whoever is making this could be scooping it up from their backyard," says Dr. Gunter. A better idea, if you're looking to make sex more fun? She suggests paying a visit to a sex shop or website, where the sex toys, lubes, and other merchandise will have passed safety standards.

And of course, it's not like your vagina needs to be decorated or enhanced in any way in the first place. Your vagina is pretty amazing just the way it is.